One Person
by FreedomValentine
Summary: It's like salted caramel, this one- what a narcissist I am..
1. The One and Only

_Bleh._**  
**

**ONE MAN**

**THE ONE AND ONLY CHAPTER**

Promise me you'll never leave.

I will. When I have to I won't have a choice, will I?

But until then, will you stay on?

I will. I'll never leave you. I can't, anyway.

Will you promise me, then? That you'll stay on, and leave only after me, and never forget me?

I promise... I promise...

_He had smiled that day. It was just one hour or so, but it was probably one of the happiest times of his short, short life. It had to be._

_His mother had been on the way, praying to a Lord who suddenly existed, wondering if that Lord listened to Coordinators too, singing his little sibling to sleep to spare the child the confusion, the pain, the agony, the hatred... holding her head high and strong. And yet she trembled, her heart turned to stone._

_He breathes, she had reassured herself, he lives. He will survive. He will not leave us so soon._

_And if he did, he would die a martyr's death. She would see to that._

_He hadn't asked for her, as if he knew it was futile. It all was._

_When I have to, I won't have a choice, will I?_

_Till then, she held his hand_.

Would you like me to read to you?

No, I'm not recovering anyway.

Don't be ridiculous.

Just hold my hand. Stay.

You will recover-and fast.

Just to get killed again? No, thanks. I feel fine here.

Maybe I could play you a song? There's a CD player here, or the piano-I could-

No, really. I don't want to. Just stay. Don't let me go.

Alright.

_He- knew that he was dying, that he was in the last moments of his life, that he would have to leave. Soon._

_When I have to, I won't have a choice, will I?_

_She wondered what it was like- dying, the moments before that transience. His… departure... had seemed so peaceful, she was almost tempted. That was what a winter sleep was, falling into a dream, never awakening- was it really so romantic, as she made it out to be?_

_The young one was just two. Would he remember he had an elder brother? He had asked her that once that day. She had no answer. But she hoped he..._

_He did, but vaguely. Nothing special- that was that. Her wish was… wrong… but what did it matter now? He had his own life to go through._

_She held him close that day, closer than ever before, as if she could force his soul, his life, whatever it was that differentiated alive from dead, in his body, cradling his bandaged head, his tired shoulders, bruised and bloody in bandages, in her arms, as gently as she could. They had embraced, for the first and last time. She still held him close, injured, exhausted, today, now, in her heart..._

Remember that day you sang that old song, behind me, at the base?

Oh, that- it's a ballad from the AD period, you know.

Did you mean it? Was that what you wanted to say?

You got the hint? That's good, I can go in peace.

Why didn't you tell me?

I did. Why didn't you tell me?

You knew it anyway. I came up to you the days after that… say something…

I was scared. I'm not a Natural, I'm a Coordinator. So are you. And we all expect to have these things put into us beforehand like our gene arrangement, but we don't-I guess that's why it's stranger for our kind.. But I'm human too, you know… I'm only human...

We all are, regardless of our kind.

_After he was gone, she had tried it. She wanted to see what it was like. The process, and the end result-that old temptation proved too great. Too great. And she almost did it._

_She tried blowing up herself like he had, in a custom model. It had burned up. Only the cockpit remained. It was painful, but she let it go on. She could have stopped, saved herself, but she went on._

_She could see his face, on the VR channel- that fire in the eyes, the determined features, the spirit of sheer adrenal immortality, the irony of the fierce and gentle. It was him, come to take her away._

_In another form, but just as beautiful._

_She had smiled eyes smoky. He had come for her._

_They were going to be together… forever…_

You see something there?

Where?

There. Follow my finger. It's that light there. Could you tell him, to wait? Just a little bit... Just a little longer...

What are you talking about?

_She arrived, just in time. She held his hand tight, let her stay on, fussed over him, cried with and spoke softly to him. She let herself be his mother- one last time._

_She stayed on, in a corner, linked to him by a finger._

_Linking pinkies. A promise. Leave only after me, never forget me. Stay._

_He fell into his winter sleep, soon after that. The pulse faded away. They held his hands, escorted him to the divine light that he had indicated with his finger._

_He, or she, or it, had waited for him. She thanked the light silently._

_You've been a great help, dear, she told her. A trembling smile, head unmoved, eyes… watchful._

What the hell do you think you're doing, woman!

Are you finally here?

Great, now you've gone insane.

I knew you'd come for me. I knew it.

Hello? Wake up! You're crashing, bitch.

Don't ever leave me again.

_** --FreedomValentine--**_

_**Yayness, I finished it! I started at.. like.. eight last night? I'm in JC, you know. I'ts a tough life- PW just makes it worse. Oh well.**_

_**Anyway, I'm still working on the old ones, but PW is currently destroying my brain cells, so you've gots to cut me some slack. Please?? But I'm trying to finish.**__**The title of the story is also the ballad that somebody sang to somebody. If you want to try it, it's called **__**One Man**__**, by Kim Jong Kook, the mosquito man. I also had to listen to **__**Flavor of Life Ballad Version**__** and another song after getting the intial image in my head for this story while doing **__**Memory Chapter 4: Hoshi mi no Senritsu no Kanata**__**. Beautiful pieces, those things.**_


	2. Two of Us

**TWO OF US**

How about a G minor?

No, no, it'll destroy the tone...

Why not? It sounds perfectly fine to me on the guitar. Besides, most piano and guitar sounds function almost the same way.

That's the keyword, dear- almost.

Oh, be quiet, Broccoli.

_He was a friend- a good friend. But their friendship had been short, brief-just as his life was. Like a fading wisteria vine. It must've been painful, pitiful… pathetic? Maybe…_

What's wrong? Spit it out. Now.

Nothing… I'm fine, really. It's just… Mother… she's worried and all because she had a bad dream-the real kind-like a premonition of sorts… those things always come true…

Come on, Nichol, calm down.

I'm scared… am I… am I going to die?

You'll be fine. Calm down. You're- you're not going to die. Not now. You can't. Not yet.

_He didn't fall then. He fell later. Sadly…_

I'm prepared now. Really.

Don't you get yourself killed on purpose in that case...

I won't. I promise. And… thanks… for giving me that strength… I'm going to need it later on…

You have a mission?

Yeah, it's become pretty old, actually. We're still chasing the same old people.

But don't lose yourself like that. Say you won't.

I won't.

_Resilience is futile- or is it resistance, or both? In the face of death, at the prospect of it, isn't everything futile? Especially when it's so instantaneous… it didn't really matter in the end, did it? There was no point in accepting it when it came ever so uninvited._

_She still wondered why she had said that. Was she so desperate to avoid loss? Because she considered herself weak, too weak, to go through it all over again?_

_All flesh is grass- and irrelevant line. _

_No parents, no friends, no love- not even a shoulder to lean on when she felt sleepy- did she feat going on like this?_

_I'm so lonely, baby… I'm so lonely..._

_A hunger: oh, oh, the craving… to be held close once again, touched, cherished- it was not lust, nor was it an infatuation. It was love- a lack of love._

_Regret washes now, over those who stand and waite- for their turn to be called up._

Shiho, I'm scared.

And I'm not? Be resilient. You will survive. Don't think about it, shut it all out.

It's easy for you to say.

Well, why not. It has to be. You've got somebody to look out for, I haven't. I'm a lost soul more or less- that's what you'll become in the worst case scenario, so take it easy. You've got good people with you. They'll protect you. Trust me.

Really?

Really. Damn it all, you need a hug.

_He was scared, so scared. A child, crying out, begging to be let back into the womb-safety, security was what he craved. Reduced: he was reduced. _

_They protected him all right. He died for him, without knowing the connection between them. So selfless of him... so cruel of him..._

_Nobody ever addressed her by her name for some reason-unless they were like him._

_Fearful, teary-eyed, pathetic. She hated him sometimes. She despised them all, those broken weaklings…_

_Vindication was wrong. Respect the departed- wasn't that the rule?_

_Then again, rules… were meant to be broken…_

Lieutenant, sit down, please.

Is anything the matter, Sir?

Well... look, sit down first, would you?

Yes, Sir.

Lieutenant, you knew... you knew Nichol? Nichol Amalfi?

Knew, Sir?

Lieutenant, last week... While attempting to take down the enemy-

Is he gone, Sir?

What?

Nichol, Sir. He's gone, isn't he? I- no, he- he thought so… that it's the end for him… I knew it, even if he didn't tell me. He was a dear friend, Sir. Very close.

I see… well, that's all in that case. And… he wanted you to have this.

What is it?

It's his last piece. It was… addressed to you.

_Nameless. Incomplete. Like the bandages she had to look at._

_She fingered the pages, turned into thin sheets of onion. But it was sharp._

_Colour appeared on the edge: bright, salty, pungent._

_The last chord remained a blank-almost. For in a corner of the page, written in pencil and hastily erased subsequently- a G minor._

_Shattered. The fluidity was gone. And yet, it seemed to carry forth, by itself, like the imagination coming to life. A Solitaire Mystery._

Lieutenant!

Sir...

You're doing well?

Yes, Sir, I-I was just fixing the… wiring...

Oh... I'm going down for a while, would you…

What? No. No, really, that's alright. I'm-I'm good…

_The face of a saviour._

_It glowed with such intensity and yet-_

_It was just both of them, the two of them in that body. They had manifested themselves as parts of this loudmouthed brat gone soft, become mature. The pain seemed lesser now. Losing a friend.. losing a love.. well, life had to go on anyway, didn't it?_

_ -FreedomValentine-_

**Yippee! Another story over! I didn't want to write this actually… I was going to do a decent, long chapter for The Hay-Haired One, but my hands decided this would be better and they conspired with my pretty pen to conjure this. One shall have to therefore waite for a few more days. I'll put it up before Hari Raya. Or at least try to.. yupp. But my exams are finally over (now for Mother Tongue and PW..) and I can finally write! Well, not exactly with that much freedom.. but… yeah…**

**No songs were used as inspiration- which might explain the occasional blandness of the invisible imagery- but I did put in for the fun of it and also because I liked the sound of them, a phrase from one of John Milton's sonnets, and a modified version of the title of some Gaardner person's book I read. Well, just an extract, but yeah… **


	3. Dreamcatcher

**Preface: I'm sorry I glorified Cagalli. Canard. Somebody.****  
**

**DREAMCATCHER**

When somebody goes out to save humanity, is he appreciated?

You can't apply the term 'humanity' to refer to everyone, can you? And what kind of question is that, anyway?

Does humanity want to be saved?

There you go again, getting all profound….

_He was such an idealist, spacing out almost entirely half the time. And yet, she loved him-not as one loves a person because of some sort of attraction, not like a man loves a woman. It was pure love, the kind that only a child can feel for his or her parents, only a sister feels for her brother. Like George and Anne: it was not to be underestimated._

_Jealousy killed the cat- or is it curiosity? The irrelevance of it all…_

I hear you got your letter today- from them.

I have. And you? Are you going?

I suppose. I mean, it's not a bad career choice- good money, respect, recognition… not to mention all those hot guys… it's the works, huh?

You're so ordinary, child.

What do you mean ordinary?

Conformity, girl, the mainstream- the world can't exist without it. Got a drag? I'm dying for one.

_How was one to know? That he would be dead or missing- that's as good as dead. At least those who remain are at ease, that he or she died with a purpose, died a martyr. No need to mourn already and then over and over again. The pain, sheer agony…_

_A psychedelic was in good order, and desperately required._

What about you? Are you going?

Me? Hell, no, I'm 18. Nobody goes to the army at 18. Besides, I'm already contributing to the war effort. You sacrifice your life, I sacrifice my voice. Propaganda is VERY useful, ya know.

Right. I got the point.

Oh, no, you don't.

_Liar, liar, pants on fire. But his whole person caught fire._

_Even now, the images played in her head, deep in the night, when she was alone, penetrable. She felt violated, every time, every single time she saw him, by the old oak, which she wondered even now if it was synthetic or real, she saw him, bursting into flames, as if he had on Morgana's cloak._

_The singed shock of black, once thick and smooth, so beautiful to simply behold, turned wiry and stripped of it's once grandness. The grace was all that he managed to retain._

_The elegant fingers, divine on any instrument, turned to mere sticks of calcium and collagen. The pure skin, torn away, like snow turning, somehow transfiguring into lava, reduced to shreds of papery, ashy material. The flesh cooked before her eyes, roasted into overly barbecued flesh turned inflexible and unresponsive, like cold, uncooked fish, only to reveal nothingness, a packet of air, bulging, constrained into white structures, hollow, porous._

_If anything, the imagery was frightful._

You're not really gone, are you?

No, I'm not. I'm right here, even now. I'll always be here.

_It was a dream, intangible, and yet, it evoked hope. There was a possibility- that he was alive, he was somewhere out there. Suffering, starving, weak- but alive. Maybe he didn't die, but was caught by the enemy. The eyes grew misty; the letter lay forgotten, for a reply had been obtained anyway._

Will you hold me now, my frozen heart… I'm gazing from the distance and I feel everything has to fade…

_And so ran the old song._

_Lost in deep winter sleep- a favourite phrase of his, especially to describe his orphan-hood. I have no parents because they're in a winter sleep. They're lost in a deep winter sleep._

_Now she used it everywhere, with everyone._

_Everybody listened to him at the base. So fervently…_

_It really did boost the morale after all, his songs. Not the lyrics, but the voice- so powerful, so amazingly beautiful._

_She was so proud of him, so proud. The posters that hung in almost every dorm room were absent in hers, for she already had one in her heart, way back from her childhood, and there, he was a thousand times more vibrant, a million times more brilliant- like a diamond. For he was so precious to her, so valuable in her eyes._

Hey, I didn't know you like Canard Pars!

Well, not really.

He's not bad actually, but I don't get why he had to reject the army life. Seriously, what does he think of himself? The next Lacus Clyne?

You've got a point there.

_It was a temptation that she had to bite her tongue at. Everyone thought she was just a fan of his. But she was more that that. She was the only one to understand him, the only one. The rest were just flukes, looking down on him, underestimating him over such a trivial issue._

_You hear that, Canard? That's how they see you. Sure, you've got a great voice, but you're just a traitor to them. But you're not. You're true, to where you have to be, you are honest, you are pure. I know you are. I know you, and I know you_ well.

If you had a choice, would you be a Natural, or a Coordinator?

I guess I'd be fine with either, but it wouldn't make a difference would it? We'd only be on the other side of the war. In any case, we kill and get killed.

I think.. It's best to be neither. Screw co-existence, it's never happening, what we need… what we really need is a new world order, where there's no such thing as a Natural or a Coordinator, where we'll all be at least physio-chemically equal again.

Too bad it's not happening, huh?

But it's alright to dream, to hope, to desire.

You're doing your thing again. Wake up, this is reality. We'll always be fighting.

But dreams can come true, can't they?

_If dreams did come true, this world would be a chaotic place._

_Conflict is inevitable. He ought to have realized. Unless, of course, he wasn't talking about anything peaceful. That made a lot more sense. _

_And he hadn't, after all- looking at the remnants of his existence, she could safely assert that. Just as the world was cleansed by 40 days and 40 nights of floods in Noah's time, so would his dream be realized, his prayers answered-by cleansing the world, there was after all, a possibility, a slice of hope, a glimmer of light in the presently dark lamp that the segregation would finally end, once and for all._

_She wept for him once more, for his abandoned dreams._

If it ever comes to such a stage, I will need you, even if I should be absent physically.

What the hell are you crapping of again?

It's the least you can do for me, right? Will you make my dream come true?

What- of course. I will.

_It was an uphill struggle, a burden that she had picked up without knowledge of its contents, but it was lighter by the day. No matter what, she would give his life to his dreams, or die trying. It was the least she could do._

** -FreedomValentine-**

**It was supposed to be Rusty, actually, but I don't like him and it would be stupid anyway to have three kids knowing the same chick, so what the hell. Besides, Canard is so darn cool/ hawt when he's flying or singing. I don't know, you decide.**

**And, yes, I know I totally destroyed the mainstream perception of Shiho the lean, mean, MS-flying machine who is coincidentally a hot chick. I'm really sorry, but I don't dig the whole perfection deal. She's very normal to me, very ordinary and that's why I just lover her to bits.**

**I know I've given her a lot of crap this one week, what with losing someone dear each time but I had to find a reason for her gloomy disposition and her silence, other than the fact that she doesn't have a seiyuu.**

**Voice actor, you munchkins.**

**Tamaki Nami turned the role down, apparently. Hell, I doubt she could've done it anyway, considering her ultra-blasé expressions in Love Complex.**

**Anyway, I wanted to show her in a new light, where she is loved and yet lost, shattered but made stronger. To me, she's extremely diverse, a symbol of reality in a dystopic story. I had to give her an all-new dimension that was being gradually taken away. It had to be worth it, because I spent two hours typing it while watching Dasepo Girls and about an hour to write it by hand.**

**Anyway, I think she deserves it- not the losses, but our admiration and understanding. She's not ever in the limelight and she still shines way more than sugary sweet hippies like Lacus, who are just damn well high on happy drugs every second of their lives. I wanted to show her in a warmer light.**

**That at least was my primary objective and as far as I can see, I have blabbed on far too long. I shall therefore go on to… REFERENCES!**

**DREAMCATCHER is a song by Olivia Lufkin, in the album of the same name. Olivia Lufkin also did Winter Sleep**

**George and Anne are the Boleyn sibling, who were very close from their childhood. At Anne's trial, George was accused by his wife Jane of incest with Anne. He was subsequently put to death.**

**A psychedelic is a drug or hallucinogenic that supposedly clears and frees the mind. See Aldous Huxley's **_**The Doors of Perception**_** for more on the experience. The guy was obsessed with it.**

**The phrase on 'starving, suffering, weak' or whatever I wrote- I can't remember- was modeled on Offred's description of Luke in one chapter in The Handmaid's Tale.**

**The allusion of Morgana's cloak is from a story of one of the woman's old attempts to kill her kid brother. This time, she devised a magic cloak that would burst into flames once somebody put it on and then burn him or her to death. **

'**Lost in deep winter sleep' and all those phrases are from Winter Sleep, also by Olivia Lufkin. Her PVs are weird, though.**

**The whole chemically equal thing is something I got from Henry Foster in **_**Brave New World**_**, who keeps one saying that men are only psycho-chemically equal or something like that. I can't remember. Besides, he was too annoying for me to **_**tahan**_


	4. A Farewell to Sorrow

**A FAREWELL TO SORROW**

_**Me and my anachronisms.. Featuring Dongwan**_

For now, I won't leave you, no matter what. But I won't promise you eternity- I can't.

I don't want you to anyway. I know you'll leave me soon enough, so don't worry.

Don't you worry. I know I'll be in line before you, but I'll leave you in good hands

Shut up and rest. I'll live… I don't need any support-other than yours.

What, you can't live without me? Don't nod your head and smile, I'm serious.

_It wasn't a wonder, was it, my love, why you never got promoted? You always scraped through, and never got anything more than a mark short of the top score- and you never made that appeal did you, you liar? You even got your pants on fire for that didn't you? Like they say: liar, liar, pants on fire._

_But you managed to get everything else on fire, didn't you? What sort of a lie was that, that actually had the strength to kill you, to kill me? Because I'm just physically alive, you know. I told you then, and I've said it before as well- I can't live without you. I can't live without you, so why don't you just get out of wherever you are and come here and stand before me. Stop hiding already…_

_Stand before me, you coward, so I can at least get an explanation out of you. No matter how irrelevant, no matter how dumb it is, I'll listen to you. I'll hear you out, and accept you. I'll hold you close and listen to your every world. I'll forgive you, so why don't you come back and look at me in the eye to tell me whatever you want to, damn it? I tried to be with you but you-you pushed me away, didn't you, you fool? Why? Why must you hate me so much? Why must you block my every attempt to breathe freely? Why can't you come back? Why won't you? Why won't you love me anymore? Why won't you let me love you? Let me live, dearest heart, let me live because I can't go on._

I'm scared… I want to live… I don't want to die…

He was.. A good kid…

_And what about you, you lamb? You knew you weren't cut out for a martyr's job, didn't you? Who told you to defy your parents? Wanted to be a real rock start, didn't you, you fool? Wanted to be revered by the whole race and have at least a street named after you, didn't you, you glutton? Or was it that you got the save-the-day syndrome like a stack of other idiots? Nobody asked you to protect them, not even your own lot-they were all sensible people, weren't they? They had brains, didn't they? So what happened to you? You go in like a hero and come out a whining whelp- what was the point, I ask you, what was the point in it all? You think your life is a poem- and an unfinished one at that- which I have to critically analyze and comment on?_

_Forgive me, my friend, for I have no more kind words for you. My mouth is a blank now, as is my heart. I don't know what to tell you anymore. Your absence isn't really felt- that's all, really. It was a stupid death, my friend, a senseless departure. I told you, didn't I? I told you not to come into the picture, to stay where you were. I got forced into this, but what about you? I told you to be a little intelligent, not to be a complete jackass and practically beg for death. But you didn't listen, did you?_

_Nobody ever listens to me, not even you. But I'm right at the need, aren't I? I'm always right. I've always been right, but it's never been put to good use thanks to all of you._

_It's not a wonder, then, is it? Yes, I have every right to be angry. But what right did you, or any of the others, have to make me angry or to let me be angry? So, you see, my friend, I loved you and I still do, but I have nothing kind to say. My throat is dry with sorrow and I've been deserted in a desert, with no oasis in sight._

Please, cooperate with us. We have had enough. There is no need to take up arms again.

Aw, shut up already, woman! I didn't even go out to the front even once!

I am so over Lacus Clyne- hey, doesn't this mean we're jobless now?

Fancy that! Then again…

Damned idiots are taking so long to figure out what 'cooperate with us' means! I wonder how long they'll take to figure out that they're gonna be sacked too…

Hey, all of you, come over! The food's here! Time to celebrate!!

_Do you hear that, my love? Will you come out now? Are you done with hiding now? Look, it's all over. Its peace, come to reign once more. I don't need to hear anything from you. I won't ask a single word from you, I swear. Come back, won't you?_

_And you, my friend, isn't this what we needed, my friend? We need some music now, something to listen to. Come, come and finish your song. I've done a pathetic job out of it, so won't you at least do this much for me? It's a terrible thing to leave poetry unexpressed. You said that. Isn't it the same for music?_

_Are you… angry with me? What of you, my love? Have I grown so hideous? Don't you want to see me? Don't you have anything to say to me? Am I so despicable now?_

_Honour me, at least, my debt. Repay me 94608000 seconds-each of you. I'm calculative, yes. But it's the time I spent on you and solitude has turned me into such a creature._

Ill have to go soon enough and I'll need your help while I'm away...

Where are you going?

You're not really gone, are you?

No, I'm not. I'm right here, even now. I'll always be here.

Well, then, when are you coming back?

I.. I don't know… but I'll be close by, so don't worry. For now… hey, don't do that!

What kind of thing is going to keep you away for so long?

It could be really short, too… look, look at me, and don't cry…

_So, brother, it's over. You knew it was going to be over, didn't you? You always do. So where are you? You said you'd come back, didn't you? I won't ask for compensation from you- as long as you come back, that is. Just come back, and we'll be quits._

_And that assignment you dumped on me- do you still want it done, or do you need me to throw it out? Either way, you must come back to give me a reply._

_Have you noticed something already, that I have nothing much to say to you? That's because maybe, just maybe, you're still around. You're not gone, you're just gone from here. That's all there is to it, right? I know you're hiding too. They told me. That body-it's not yours. You didn't get toasted. See, you're done for now, aren't you?_

Great… I get back here and what do I see?

Yeah! Celebrate good times! Whoo!

Stop this nonsense right now! The inspection of troops is starting shortly, and I don't want you all to be embarrassed. The superiors are already on their way, so pack up!

Boo! You're such a spoilsport, Commander!

Yeah! Hercules, Hercules.. whoo!!

Haha, you're wasted!

You! Come here! Where's the Vice-Commander!

Is that how you talk to your friends?! Oh, yeah, it is…

Where-is-the-Vice-Commander?

Chill, dude.. She's not here… check her rooms, maybe she's there…

_You'd leave me in good hands, huh? No, you didn't you cheat. You just said that to get me off your back, didn't you? You couldn't stand it, could you, that I was just watching you leave me? Did you feel that release, my love?_

_Did you really love me? I'm sorry I couldn't kiss you goodbye. I was so scared that I might just hurt you and I… forgive me, dear heart, I am lost. I lost you and now I have nothing left to hold on to. Everyone started to leave after you did. It's all your fault that I have no friend, not even a brother. They're all gone, you know, all of them…_

_You came back not once, but three times. Each time you'd take on the same form and you'd tell me the same thing, wouldn't you that I can't come yet? I know it was you. I could tell, every time, that it was you in a different form. You came back, didn't you?_

Vice-Commander! Are you in there! Vice-Commander!

Y-yes.. I… I'm inside... do give me a moment now... what is it, Sir?

We'll need you downstairs for… a little… crowd control.

Crowd control?

Yes, the whole crew, actually. They're tired and all, but the inspection of troops has to be done soon and then there's that report to file- you know what I'm talking about...

Yes, Sir, I understand.. I'll be there right away..

Good, I'll just count on you in that case. Besides, they can go on later.

Sir.. I.. I have a little condition..

Condition, Vice-Commander?

Yes, Sir…

Go on, what is it?

Yes, Sir.. If I do crowd control and they celebrate later on the way back... please, join in!

I beg your pardon, Vice-Commander?

Forgive me, sir, it just came to me... you must join the crew later in their party-

That's not like you at all, Vice-Commander-

And, you must address everyone personally, not by rank.. The war's over, Sir, finally… and we all need some familiarity, don't we? We might as well be a little lighter…

Yes, we might as well.. I'll see you there in that case- and do change. I don't want to see any uniforms later, not even one.

Yes, Sir, I understand.

_And so I bid farewell to you, my love, and to you, my friend, and to sorrow._


End file.
